My name is Dan Godley and I was unexpectedly diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on November 8th 2021, at the age of 28. Pancreatic Cancer is a very aggressive form of cancer and one that is rarely found in people my age. Although this blog was created as a response to the diagnosis, the aim of it is far-reaching: to document my experience of cancer, provide a space of catharsis for the many thoughts throughout the journey and beyond, and to help others find positivity and meaning in life that only became possible to me once I was facing this situation.
The blog is named after a little-known song by a little-known band called Homebound, which broke up a few years ago. The chorus of this song always stood out to me and does so now more than ever. If anything I write can have a similar impact on someone else, then I consider it a huge success.
Life never gets easier at all
Just a little more heavy and harder to control
The highs and lows they come and go,
So do what’s best for you and know
We were a drop in the sea,
Part of the ebb and flow
Much Love, Dan
Latest Posts
Blog
Another Day, Another Hospital Stay
I’ve spent so much time in hospitals over these past 12 months that I’m starting to consider myself somewhat an expert on them. Sure, the staff at a hospital spend much more time there than I ever could, but they aren’t then forced to sleep on the thin foam mattresses and eat the inexplicably disgusting…
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Delirium
‘Delirium’ wasn’t something I was aware of before being in the hospital after my operation. For the first 5 days of my hospital stay, I still wasn’t aware of the term. If someone had asked me to define it beforehand I’d have probably said it sounds like a term referring to someone losing their mind,…
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Cancer Free (Sturm und Drang)
The Road to Recovery I want to start this post with an apology in case I repeat anything I have written in my previous two posts. Surprisingly, two weeks of opioids and painkillers aren’t conducive to a well-formed memory. “Why don’t you go back and read the posts then, Dan?” you may ask. I don’t…
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An Update Post Surgery
The Road to Recovery Where do I start? Do I talk about the operation and how a team of people tirelessly slaved away, working on my body for 13 hours, making sure that none of the tumour could remain? I wasn’t there for the surgery, so I can’t talk much of that experience, only the…
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Last Thoughts Before Surgery
The Road to Recovery ‘You wanna move mountains, go aheadI think I’ll suffocate insteadA change of scenery won’t tameThe endless earthquakes in my headSo I’ll suffer throughA means to an end, it’s all I can do’ This will be my final post before I go into surgery on Friday. I would imagine that it will…
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Blog Categories and Search
Blog Series
The Road to…
Documenting how I was diagnosed and how recovery is going
- The Road to Diagnosis: Part 1
- The Road to Diagnosis: Part 2
- The Road to Diagnosis: Part 3
- The Road to Diagnosis: Part 4
- The Road to Recovery
The Chemotherapy Diaries
My journey through chemotherapy
- Twelve Rounds with Folfirinox
- Infections Ahoy: 2 Hospital Visits in 24 Hours
- Completing Chemotherapy…
- Losing Hair
- Legs Eleven: The Penultimate Cycle
The ‘C’ Word Challenge
Blog posts avoiding the ‘C’ word
- Mental Notes on a Four-Hour Drive
- Attending Counselling: A Review
- Vegetarianism
- Whitby
- Fashion: The Mainstay of the Lifestyle Blog
Reflections
Reflections on a variety of topics
- Dealing with Cancer: Support Groups
- Father’s Day
- Surgery and Yellow Mayonnaise
- Physical and Mental Wellbeing in Fighting Cancer
- Race Day: Anna & Sophie vs 13.1 Miles
Poetry
Perfection
Striving for perfectionA feat that I concedeMay lead to an imperfectionOf my personalityCritiquing all the writingEnsuring it is freeFrom grammatical delusionNo need for subtletyProposition and a verbThe subject here is meThese rules are non-negotiableWho has deceiv’d thee?And please call me a pedantA badge I wear with gleeThere’s no shades to this greyI’m apathetic to your…
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Alive
The boundaries are blurred so I wait Observing from a distance, I consider my fate In time there’s some meaning I establish my feelings A calming naivety, au fait As I recoil back within Escape the prison of my skin I know that I suffer, but I’m alive There’s moments of fear And flashes of…
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3:00am
All I have is time I had it before, but now it stares at me. The morning waves, the evening scowls My watch holds my wrist Patiently My head falls through the pillow It screams and pulls my eyes open And my watch is waiting, staring: 3:00am Discussion I wrote 3:00am in the first week…
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Positivity Playlist
A collaborative playlist for positive vibes only!
Ebb and Flow 